Sweden man sentenced to three years in prison for trafficking fentanyl

PARIS — A Sweden man was sentenced Wednesday morning at Oxford County Superior Court to eight years in prison with all but three years suspended for trafficking in fentanyl.

Derek Verrill, 28, pleaded not guilty Nov. 14 to a charge of Class B unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs, and a charge of Class C illegal importation of scheduled drugs.

In a plea deal the state agreed to drop the importation charge in return for a guilty plea to drug trafficking.

Verrill will also serve three years of probation upon release, pay a $400 fine and pay $120 restitution to the state for the cost of testing the fentanyl.

Assistant Attorney General David Fisher said if the case had gone to trial, officers with the Fryeburg Police Department, Oxford County Sheriff’s Office and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency would have testified that Verrill and Sweden resident Gayle Gilmore were arrested after their vehicle was stopped and searched in April 2016. Police found 60 grams of fentanyl in it.